The Trudeau government says the situation at Canadian airports continues to improve.
The government on Friday afternoon issued the following statement:
Flight completions
* For the week of October 3-9, 2022, 99 percent of flights planned for Canada’s top four airports were completed (i.e., not cancelled); an improvement from 95 percent for the first week of July.
* This percentage is the same as the week of October 7-13, 2019, when 99 percent of flights for the top four airports were completed.
On-time performance
* From October 3-9, 2022, over 91 percent of flights from the top four airports left on time, or within one hour of their scheduled departure.
* This is a significant improvement from under 75 percent for the first week of July and is approaching the pre-pandemic levels in October 2019 where 96 percent of flights were on time, or within an hour of scheduled departure.
Holding of aircraft at Toronto Pearson International Airport
* The number of arriving international flights being held on the tarmac at Toronto-Pearson International Airport has decreased dramatically since May. For the week of October 3-9, 2022, 0.6 percent, or 12 international flight arrivals, were held on the tarmac, as compared to the peak of 373 during the first week of May.
Passenger security screening wait times
* From October 3-9, 2022, 90 percent of passengers at the four largest airports were screened within 15 minutes by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA); an improvement from 79 percent during the first week of July 2022.
* Toronto-Pearson International Airport: 89 percent (98 percent in 2019)
* Vancouver International Airport: 90 percent (91 percent in 2019)
* Montréal-Trudeau International Airport: 93 percent (94 percent in 2019)
* Calgary International Airport: 89 percent (87 percent in 2019)
Yours truly was at Pearson today (Saturday, October 15) at 10 a.m. and it was almost deserted. Check-in, security and U.S. customs took less than a half hour. It was reasonably busy on Tuesday morning when I flew to Washington D.C., but not bad.
Advance CBSA Declaration
* Travellers are encouraged to use the optional Advance CBSA Declaration to submit their customs and immigration declaration through ArriveCAN to save time at the airport. This optional feature is currently available to travellers arriving at Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Montréal-Trudeau or Winnipeg international airports. In the coming months, this feature will become available at the Calgary, Edmonton, Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ottawa, Québec City and Halifax international airports.
Increasing staffing for security screening and collaborating with industry partners
* Since April, CATSA has hired 2,011 screening officers across Canada. Efforts to increase screening officer staff levels at all airports continue.
* The Minister of Transport and Transport Canada continue to meet regularly with airports and airlines alongside CATSA, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and NAV CANADA to ensure a continued safe and efficient travel experience, now and in the future.
